As you can see, only five receivers have been invited to the Heisman ceremony (1981 was the first year it was televised, so the practice of inviting finalists is relatively new). Outside of Larry Fitzgerald in 2003, most of the receivers who did well in the vote were also all-purpose dynamos.

But this shouldn’t mean that Cooper can’t be the first to break this glass ceiling, right? After all, if Fitzgerald could finish second in the Heisman vote as a sophomore while playing for an 8-4 Pittsburgh team in 2003, surely Cooper could win it as a junior for an Alabama squad that is challenging for a national title in 2014.

But here’s the issue with pure receivers trying to win the Heisman: They either get bottled up at some point, or their quarterback starts to share credit.

Let’s look at Cooper’s numbers. Through four games, he has a remarkable 43 catches for 655 yards and five touchdowns. Much of this production can be attributed to Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin, who has a habit of force-feeding his wide receivers, especially early in the season. For instance, Robert Woods had 41 catches through four games for Kiffin in 2011 (and 54 through five games), while Marqise Lee had 40 in four games (and 52 through five games) in 2012.

So we’ve seen this show before.

Woods tapered off after that hot start, catching just five passes for 36 yards in game six and two catches for five yards in game 10. Lee was held to two catches for 32 yards in game six and five catches for 75 yards in game 12. Both Woods and Lee wore down physically (and mentally) due to the burden of being the focal point of the USC offense, not to mention because they took on more hits from defenders, which led to more bumps and bruises over the long run…and diminishing returns.

Also, unlike Woods and Lee, Cooper does not have a top-flight No. 2 wide receiver to draw attention away from him. At some point, defenses will adjust.

This is what happened to Larry Fitzgerald against Miami late in the 2003 season. Fitzgerald was unstoppable all year, but he was held to three catches for 26 yards by a determined Hurricanes defense that didn’t want him to win the Heisman on their watch.

It’s just much easier for defenses to scheme to stop receivers than it is to stop quarterbacks or running backs. Quarterbacks touch the ball on every play. Running backs are handed the ball in a generally secure manner by the quarterback. But for a receiver to catch the ball, a series of events MUST occur before anything else can happen.

(1) The receiver must get open.
(2) The quarterback must identify the open receiver (he may not be the only open receiver, at that).
(3) The quarterback must deliver an accurate pass.
(4) The receiver must catch the pass.

If any of these steps get disrupted, the receiver doesn’t produce. In general, the farther away you are from the ball when it is snapped, the harder it is to win the Heisman.

But let’s say that Cooper doesn’t wear down and continues to pile up huge numbers while the Crimson Tide remain undefeated. Alas! At some point, Alabama quarterback Blake Sims is going to start to take some credit for the production and those wins. After all, every pass caught by a receiver is also a pass thrown by a quarterback.

That’s why recent pure receivers who’ve made noise in the Heisman race have seen their candidacies diluted to some extent by their quarterbacks. Brandon Weeden drew attention away from Justin Blackmon, while Michael Crabtree had to share the spotlight with Graham Harrell.

So what’s a receiver to do?

Luckily, we have the Biletnikoff Award for pure receivers. Cooper seems a cinch to win that.

There’s a new runner up in HeismanPundit’s latest Heisman Straw Poll released on Tuesday (Sept. 23).

Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper’s hot start has vaulted him past Georgia running back Todd Gurley into second place in the weekly survey of Heisman voters from around the country.

Cooper sat in fifth place with just three total points in last week’s poll, but his 10-catch, 201-yard, 3-touchdown performance in Alabama’s 42-21 win over Florida resonated with the panel. Cooper tallied 12 points and two first-place votes, while Gurley — runner-up the last two weeks — dropped to third place with nine points points, including two first-place votes.

Despite Cooper’s surge, Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota strengthened his grip on the top spot thanks to a 5-touchdown outing against Washington State. Mariota increased his point total from the previous week, appearing on all 10 ballots while tallying 24 points to go with his six first-place votes. Mariota has led the last three straw polls (and four out of five this season).

Now in its ninth season, HeismanPundit.com’s Heisman Straw Poll is the college football world’s most trusted gauge of Heisman voter sentiment. It has been the most accurate Heisman poll in the country during the past seven seasons, with the final 2012 poll correctly picking the top five finishers and the final 2011 poll picking the top seven. This year’s poll is made up of 10 anonymous Heisman voters from across the country. Each week during the season they will pick three players. Tabulations for the preseason poll are tabulated like a real Heisman ballot, with three points awarded for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote and one point for a third-place vote.

Each week’s poll is released on Tuesdays throughout the season at HeismanPundit.com. .

While getting off to a hot start isn’t necessarily required to win the Heisman, it’s been the rule of late.

Here’s a look at the last six Heisman-winning quarterbacks, with their total offense and touchdowns after their first four games:

Jameis Winston — 1,159 yards, 14 TDs

Johnny Manziel — 1,460 yards, 16 TDs

Robert Griffin III — 1,481 yards, 19 TDs

Cam Newton — 1,168 yards, 14 TDs

Sam Bradford — 1,266 yards, 17 TDs

Tim Tebow — 1,454 yards, 17 TDs

It looks like producing at least 1,150 yards of total offense and 14 combined touchdowns by game four is a fairly good indication of who’s going to challenge for the Heisman…at least in the current college football climate.

Here are the quarterbacks who have hit those numbers so far in 2014:

Connor Halladay, WSU — 1,845 yards, 16 TDs

Marcus Mariota, Oregon — 1,349 yards, 16 TDs

Shane Carden, ECU — 1,488 yards, 14 TDs

Dak Prescott, Mississippi State — 1,342 yards, 14 TDs

Rakeem Cato, Marshall — 1,338 yards, 14 TDs

Obviously, things look pretty good for Mariota, especially considering he’s already gone up against one elite defense. Prescott is also promising, while Carden and Cato could stir up some long shot trophy talk if they continue this pace.

A few more quarterbacks are on the bubble, statistically, and could move into this group soon, including Kenny Hill, Taysom Hill, Maty Mauk, Dylan Thompson, Jacoby Brissett, Anu Solomon, Brandon Doughty, Everett Golson and Gunner Kiel (who has 730 yards and 10 TDs in just 2 games).

Let’s keep in mind, though, that statistics aren’t everything when it comes to winning the Heisman. We’re unlikely to see Halladay get a single vote, even if he ends up leading the nation in total offense. That’s because voters take other things into account, such as team success, tradition, impact of system, quality of competition and career resume.

Here is the week 4 edition of the 2014 HP Heisman Watch. After taking into account the games played so far, these are the players who have the best chance of actually winning the Heisman. This is not a prediction of the final order of the race, nor is it an endorsement of who would or should win if the vote were held today. It’s a long view of the race that takes into account schedule and statistical trends.

1. Marcus Mariota, JR, QB, Oregon

Mariota’s production continues to soar after a 329-yard, 5-touchdown performance in Oregon’s 38-31 win over Washington State. He now leads the nation in passing efficiency and is on pace to put up 52 total touchdowns by the time the Heisman vote is due. Oregon has this weekend off, but Mariota has taken command of this race. If he maintains his current statistical pace and the Ducks don’t suffer any major letdowns, he might run away with the trophy.

2. Todd Gurley, JR, RB, Georgia

Gurley wasn’t called upon to do much in Georgia’s 66-0 win over Troy. The junior had 73 yards on six carries before giving way to freshman Sony Michel. He remains on pace for a Heisman-worthy campaign, but the Bulldogs probably need to win the SEC East for him to really have a shot.

3. Everett Golson, SO, QB, Notre Dame

Golson remains an intriguing prospect in this race due to the Notre Dame schedule. If he leads the Irish to wins over Stanford and Florida State in the next few weeks, he could conceivably jump to the top of this list. Even if Notre Dame wins just one of the games — and Golson plays well in both of them — he should emerge as a serious candidate. On the other hand, if the Irish lose both and Golson’s production collapses, he’ll most likely fall out of contention.

4. Kenny Hill, SO, QB, Texas A&M

Hill’s production one-third of the way into the season is sterling. However, the schedule is about to get pretty tough, as October games with Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Alabama loom. Can Hill emerge from this gauntlet unscathed? If he does, he’ll probably be on his way to New York. If not, he might have to wait until next year.

5. Ameer Abdullah, SR, RB, Nebraska

Heisman voters love 200-yard rushing games and Abdullah had his second of the season by rushing for 229 yards (with two touchdowns) against Miami. Abdullah is now on pace for almost 1,900 yards and could top the magical 2,000-yard mark if the Huskers make their way to the Big Ten title game. A big game against Michigan State on Oct. 4 might vault him over Gurley as the top running back candidate in this race.

6. Melvin Gordon, JR, RB, Wisconsin

Gordon got back on track this past weekend with 253 yards and five touchdowns on just 13 carries in Wisconsin’s thrashing of Bowling Green. The junior has the ability to put up yards in bunches and I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes on a tear in the next few weeks. The 2,000-yard mark is within reach, but it will probably require that the Badgers make the Big Ten title game — which means beating Nebraska and Abdullah in mid-November.

7. Bryce Petty, SR, QB, Baylor

Petty and Baylor are coming off a bye week and will now jump into Big 12 play. Petty is off to a relatively slow start to the season and he doesn’t appear to be 100 percent healthy, but the potential is there for a rebound. I think he needs to average at least 300 passing yards and three touchdown passes per game the rest of the way to have a shot, but that should be doable in Art Briles’ offense.

8. Taysom Hill, JR, QB, BYU

Hill passed for 187 yards and rushed for 72, with three total touchdowns, in the Cougars’ win over Virginia this past Saturday. He remains on pace for an excellent season and, if BYU finishes 12-0 with no playoff berth available, some voters might see a Hill trip to New York as a nice consolation prize.

9. Dak Prescott, JR, QB, Mississippi State

Prescott might be turning into this year’s dark horse. He’s on pace for a Heisman-worthy campaign after a brilliant performance in MSU’s road win over LSU. He’ll make a huge jump on this list if he can guide the Bulldogs over Texas A&M and Auburn in the coming weeks.

10. Nick Marshall, SR, QB, Auburn

Time is running out for Marshall to produce the statistics he needs to compete in this race, but Auburn plays seven ranked opponents the rest of the way…which means he can make up lost ground in a hurry. Nonetheless, he’ll drop out of contention unless he explodes this Saturday against Louisiana Tech.

So, I got lazy and decided to take last week’s games off. After all, I’d gone 10-10 against the spread in the first two weeks. And while that’s not bad in some places, it’s definitely not up to par in my book. No matter, I’m back at it again this week. Here are the my top 10 plays for this week. Picks in bold. Lines courtesy of Docsports.

Kent Brown and HeismanPundit Jr. are joined by HeismanPundit to break down all of the top games this weekend. A couple of the guys predict a few Top 10 teams to lose outright this week. Find out who should be on upset alert as we preview week 4 of the season.